Which microphone should I use, and where does it go?

Almost every new learner starts with the same sentence: which microphone should I buy, or bring? It is a fair question, but it hides a better one. Before the model, ask what the person speaking will be doing, how far they will sit from you, and what the room is doing around them. A seated interviewee in a quiet office and a panellist in a busy hall need different answers, even if both are talking at the same volume.

In the course we ask learners to write those three facts down before they open the kit bag. Speaker behaviour, distance and room. Once those are on paper, most of the choice is made. The microphone becomes a tool matched to a situation rather than a favourite you reach for out of habit.

Early autumn is a good time to think about this, because indoor events return and rooms that were empty all summer fill up again with chairs, heating and people. The same microphone that worked in July may need a different position in October.

A lavalier sits close to the mouth, so it hears the voice far more than the room. That makes it the usual choice for seated interviews and for speakers who move. Its weakness is clothing: fabric rubs, jewellery clicks, and a badly clipped capsule picks up every shift of the body.

A shotgun microphone is narrow in what it hears and is held or mounted out of frame. It suits situations where nothing can be clipped on, but it only works well when the room is reasonably quiet and the person aiming it can stay close and steady. In a reverberant hall it will pick up the echo as faithfully as the voice.

A handheld microphone gives the most direct and forgiving result for speakers who are used to holding one, such as a host or a panel moderator. It also lets you hand control to the speaker, which is useful when you cannot be at their side.

• Lavalier: seated interviews, moving speakers, tight shots
• Shotgun: no clipping possible, quiet rooms, steady operator
• Handheld: hosts, moderators, noisy rooms where distance is hard to control

Learners are often surprised to hear that a modest microphone placed well will beat an expensive one placed carelessly. For a lavalier, the working position is on the breastbone, roughly a hand's width below the chin, with the capsule facing up and clear of the collar. Too low and the voice thins out; too high and breath and chin movement creep in.

For a shotgun, aim at the mouth from above or below the frame line, as close as the shot allows, angled so that the back of the microphone points away from loud sources such as speakers or air vents. Even a small change in angle changes how much room you record.

For a handheld, the habit to teach is a consistent distance, about a fist from the mouth, and keeping it pointed at the chin rather than waved around. A short demonstration to the speaker before recording saves a great deal of fixing afterwards.

Panels bring a problem interviews do not: several voices, several distances, and speakers who turn to look at each other. Giving each person their own lavalier is the cleanest approach when the budget and the mixer inputs allow it, because each voice is isolated and can be set at its own level.

When that is not possible, shared handhelds or table microphones can work, but they need a plan for who speaks into which one, and the moderator has to keep people honest about it. We practise this in the sound check module, with learners seating a mock panel and listening for the weakest voice.

Whatever the arrangement, ask each speaker to talk at normal volume while you set levels, and set them on the loudest, most animated person in the group. The quiet one can be brought up; the loud one cannot be unsaid.

The commonest fault is the clipped lavalier buried under a jacket lapel or tie, where it records mostly rustle. Moving it into the open, or taping it flat on bare skin or the inside of a shirt with a small windshield, usually fixes it in a minute.

The second is a shotgun pointed at a speaker from too far away, so the room fills the recording. Moving closer by half a metre often does more than any later cleaning. The third is forgetting to listen: headphones on, the speaker talking naturally, and a real minute spent hearing what the microphone hears rather than watching the meter.

Finally, many people choose a microphone first and discover afterwards that the venue makes it a poor fit. Visiting or at least asking about the room beforehand turns that around.

• Lavalier hidden under fabric
• Shotgun held too far from the mouth
• Levels watched but never listened to
• Microphone chosen before the room was known

When you arrive and have only a few minutes, run through a short order of questions. Can the speaker wear a microphone without it showing or rubbing? If yes, use a lavalier. If not, can someone hold a shotgun close and steady? If yes, use that. If the speaker is comfortable holding a microphone and the room is loud, give them a handheld.

Then check the placement by ear, not by eye. Ask the person to speak normally, listen for rustle, echo or thinness, and adjust once. If you can, record a short test and play it back before the real thing begins.

This is not a rulebook, only a habit. The more often you do it, the faster it becomes, and the less the choice of microphone feels like a gamble.